Medical Fraud in Kyiv: Officials Arrested for Disability Scheme
Under the supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General, investigators from the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) have arrested the head of a municipal medical institution in Kyiv, along with two department heads — one for psychiatry and one for admissions.
The investigation revealed that the officials organized a scheme to fraudulently process disability groups for military personnel seeking to avoid mobilization and leave the country under the guise of being disabled. The scheme involved document forgery regarding purported inpatient treatment, the preparation of medical conclusions, and subsequent decisions by the Medical and Social Expert Commission (MSEC) to establish a second disability group.
The arrest took place under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, immediately after the head of the institution received the last portion of an illegal benefit amounting to $5,000 for the "registration" of disability. The total documented amount of bribes received was $11,000 and 4,196 UAH. Currently, searches are being conducted, documentation is being seized, and all individuals involved in the illegal activities, as well as citizens who unlawfully utilized these "services," are being identified.
The arrested individuals are being prepared for notification of suspicion, and a decision is being made regarding the choice of a preventive measure. The preliminary investigation is conducted by the Main Investigation Department of the SBI with the operational support of the Office of the SBI. According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.
